3 Times Black Artists Perform For White Amusement

Black figures performing Capoeira
Leslie Taylor-Grover
January 31, 2025

Whether by force or by choice, Black people have long been used for the amusement of white people. What would you have done in these three cases?

#1 Boxing matches

 A favorite form of amusement for slave owners was forcing the enslaved into bare-knuckle fighting.

 Enslaved Africans had to box each other, and enslavers bet on a winner. And while enslavers made huge sums from betting, the fighters usually got nothing but pain. Even the rare few who fought their way to freedom often died broke.

#2 Olympic greatness

 In 1936, Jesse Owens won four gold medals. He was paid for public appearances but still struggled to make ends meet. A year later, while visiting Cuba, he competed against a racehorse – and won.

#3 Carnival workers

 As recently as the 1950s, Black men were human targets in dunking booths, dodging games, and throwing contests for white carnival goers. White professional baseball players even showed up, throwing baseballs as hard as they could. And when one Black man was injured, another showed up to take his place.

What would a future where we control all our resources look like for our bodies and liberation? What if we created a future where the pursuit of money couldn’t jeopardize our choices because everyone already had enough of what they needed?

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